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A Montana judge facing censure for suggesting that a teenage girl was partly to blame for being
raped by a teacher came under scrutiny again after he asked a man convicted of vandalism why he
didn’t get a “real job” instead of working at a fast-food chain.

The exchange is the latest to raise questions about the courtroom commentary of state District
Judge G. Todd Baugh, who faces a public reprimand next month by the Montana Supreme Court for
violating judicial standards in the rape case.

Baugh sparked public outrage last year when he said the victim in that case, a 14-year-old girl
who committed suicide before the case could be prosecuted, had been “as much in control of the
situation” as the teacher who raped her.

Baugh is due to appear before state justices next month to be censured, and has until June 30 to
protest the action. The one-month sentence he imposed in the rape case also has been overturned as
unlawfully lenient.

The more recent controversy involved a Billings man convicted on vandalism charges. At
sentencing on Monday, Baugh asked what efforts Brandon Turell, 21, had made to pay restitution to
victims.

Turell said he had been working at Burger King, prompting the judge to ask, “Why can’t you get a
real job?” according to the
BillingsGazette.

Baugh did not respond to a request for comment.

Turell was sentenced to 10 years in state custody, five of them suspended, for a felony count of
criminal mischief.